Rhubarb Crunch

 

Growing up, this was always a dessert we looked forward to when rhubarb was in season. This is my mom's recipe and was probably handed down to her from her mother. Vanilla ice cream is a must to go with this tart yet sweet dessert.

Ingredients

Crumb Base & Topping:

1 cup sifted flour

3/4 cup uncooked oats

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

1 tsp. cinnamon

Fruit & Syrup Mixture:

1 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup water

4 cups of rhubarb cut into 1/2 inch pieces (If I don't have enough rhubarb I sometimes use raspberries too.)

Directions:

Mix together crumb base and topping ingredients until crumbly. Press half of the crumbs in the bottom of a 9x9 greased pan. Cover with cut rhubarb. In a small saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, water, and vanilla. Cook, stirring until thick and clear. Pour over rhubarb. Top with remaining crumbs. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Don't forget the ice cream! :)

Giant Molasses Cookies

I don't often bake but this recipe from my sister is worth it! They are easy to make and so tasty!

Ingredients

4 &1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbs ginger
1 & 1/2 tsp baking soda
1&1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cloves
1&1/2 cups sugar, divided
1 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup molasses
2 large eggs

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350F. Grease large cookie sheet. Combine flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and cloves in medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Whisk together 1&1/4 cups sugar, oil, molasses and eggs in large bowl until smooth; stir in dry ingredients. Refrigerate dough 15 minutes.
3. Place remaining 1/4 cup sugar in small bowl. Using 2&1/4 inch ice-cream scoop or level 1/4 cup measure, form cookie dough into balls; roll balls in sugar. Place sugar-coated balls 3 inches apart on prepared sheet. Bake 15 to 18 minutes until golden. Cool cookies on wire racks. Repeat with remaining dough. Makes about 18 cookies.

Happy Birthday Jesus Cupcakes and Manger Food Tray

 I was looking for some ideas for a dessert and food tray for our Birthday Party for Jesus. I wasn't able to find anything on Pinterest, so it forced me to come up with something. It was pretty fun!

What You Need For Cupcakes
Cupcakes of any kind with white frosting. Here is the recipe that I used, http://www.annies-eats.com/2010/09/17/red-velvet-cupcakes/ .

Circus Peanuts (I got mine from The Dollar Store)
Shoestring Potatoes
Butterscotch Chips
Black Food Decorating Pen
Waxed Paper

To assemble the baby Jesus start by melting the butterscotch chips in a mini crockpot or in a small pot on the stove. Be sure to spray the crockpot with Pam before melting the chips. Put a dab of butterscotch on waxed paper and start laying the potato sticks out as the bed of hay.

Add the circus peanut and more of the potato sticks while the butterscotch is still warm, then add the little eyes and mouth.

Place "baby Jesus" on top of frosted cupcake and add the frosting swaddling clothes  .

 

I wasn't able to make my cupcakes the day of the party and found that the shoestring potatoes lost their crispness after sitting for a day and a half. So in the future I would make them the day of.

I added an updated version of the tray now that I have a star cookie cutter. I stacked the cheese angels and star 4 slices deep so they were even with the blueberries.

Celebrating Spring with Flower Pot Ice Cream Dessert

 I am Story Hour Coordinator at a Christian gift and book store and love my time with the kids! I decided to put together a spring story hour to celebrate the season. Our typical story hour consists of a bible story along with two other stories, songs with actions, and a craft to coincide with the bible story. There really is no spring bible story, but I wanted to celebrate the season with the kids and show them how we are like God's plants and need to be fed by God's word. I picked up packages with 6 gladiola bulbs per pack from the Dollar Store and made up these little packets with this simple poem. 

I couldn't find a Christian kid's song to go with our celebration of spring, so I decided to come up with my own. What kid doesn't know the song,"Let it Go", from Frozen! I put these words to the refrain from the song.




                  

                         Let us grow, let us grow                        
                         Let us grow in God's holy word.
                         Let us grow, let us grow
                         Grow to love him more and more!

                         I want to share what God has to say,
                         His Son died for me
                         So I can live in heav'n one day!

Our craft was inspired by something I saw on the Food Network by the Pioneer Woman. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/ice-cream-flower-pot-desserts-recipe.html  I have a limited budget so I used paper cups instead of clay pots and Dollar Store flowers instead of fresh flowers.

Silver and White Christmas with Tiramisu Trifle

I was excited to come across the antique champagne glasses at a resale shop for $14.00 for a set of 8 (I love a bargain!). The dishes I had didn't come with a mug but I found something that worked at Walmart.

The women of our church start off the Advent season every year with Advent by Candlelight. A program is presented focusing on Christ's birth and what he's done for us.Tables are set with Christmas decor and dessert is served to guests.  
I chose to do silver and white this year because of things I already had and love. I used a free template I got from a website to make the roses for my napkin rings. I used another template for the old fashioned Christmas Carol sheet music that I used to make the roses.
The website for the sheet music: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pemq/6300017296/in/photostream/
I copied the carols on both sides of the sheets
Website for roses: http://www.elli.com/blog/paper-rose-bouquet/
I used the medium sized rose from the bouquet

Setting the table is lots of fun, but I'm not huge on desserts or on baking them. When I need to serve a dessert, my sister Gina is my top pick for a good recipe. This is a dessert that she has had people request  because they love it, so I decided to serve it to my guests at Advent By Candlelight. It was a hit! (The beautiful dessert glasses were from a shop in Door County and were a gift from my sisters.)

Ingredients

1/2 cup coffee liqueur
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup dark corn syrup
2 Tbsp. instant espresso or coffee powder (I had a problem finding instant espresso until my sister gave me a brand name to look for in the store. Medaglia D'oro comes in a 2 oz. jar, with a red, white, and green label.)
2 Tbsp. plus 3/4 cup powder sugar

1-8oz. pkg. cream cheese at room temperature
1&1/2 cups chilled whipping cream
1-12 oz. purchased pound cake (I used Sara Lee), cut into about 1 inch squares
Unsweetened cocoa powder

To make espresso syrup, combine 1/2 cup coffee liqueur, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup dark corn syrup, 2 Tbsp instant espresso or coffe powder, 2 Tbsp powdered sugar in small bowl. Blend well

Combine 5 Tbsp of the espresso syrup, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and and 8 oz. cream cheese in a large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until smooth and fluffy. Beat 1&1/2 cups chilled whipping cream and remaining 1/4 cup powdered sugar in another large bowl until stiff and peaks form. Fold whipping cream into cream cheese mixture. Place half of the pound cake into the bottom of the bowl and drizzle with half of the remaining espresso syrup, then put half of the cream cheese layer over that. Repeat layers and dust with unsweetened cocoa powder. Cover and refrigerate for at leat 6 hours or overnight. I topped my desert with raspberries and raspberry truffles to give it a festive Christmas look.

Advent By Candlelight from Advents Past  

I already had the blue glass dishes, (plates and mugs from Walmart) and I bought the ornament stands,the snowflake ornaments and the small blue glasses I used for votives from the dollar store.

I borrowed the three tiered dessert platter and the glass Mary and Joseph for my centerpiece.

The dishes were handed down to me from my mom, the napkin fold came from a book. I made the ornaments as a gift for my guests.

The snowflake plates were from the dollar store. I used gift tags that I found at Tuesday Morning for my place cards. I hot glued candy to some ribbon for my napkin rings...

 The clip on candle holders were brought back from Germany by my mom. She grew up in her early years with candles lighting their tree and candy was used as ornaments and a treat to enjoy later. The ribbon candy was one of the candy ornaments from her childhood.

Dutch Apple Pie

 I love to cook but I'm not too keen on baking. I will make the effort when making my mom's Dutch Apple Pie because it's one of my favorite desserts. I have to say, using an "apple peeler, corer, slicer" sure makes the process easier.

I would have to rank this pie as my all time favorite, I love the crumbled topping. My mom made her own pie crust, and would take the extra crust, role it out, and sprinkle it with sugar and cinnamon and bake it along with the pie for an extra treat. I must admit that I no longer make my crust from scratch.

 *I use Pillsbury's crust, but role it out thinner between floured waxed paper.

Ingredients:

*One pie crust, homemade or store bought
7 to 8 apples (I usually use more because of the size of the pan I use)
3 Tbs. butter
3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Topping 
3/4 cup of flour
1/2 tsp. of cinnamon
1/3 cup light brown sugar (packed)  
1/3 cup butter (somewhat softened)

preheat oven to 450 degrees
*Prepare pie crust, peel and slice apples to fill the pan. Dot with 3 Tbs. butter. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp.cinnamon. 

Prepare topping by combining topping ingredients using a pastry cutter if available, otherwise use a fork. You can also use a food processor, but I'd rather not have the hassle of getting it out and washing it later.

Sprinkle topping over pie and place in the oven at 450 degrees for the first 20 mins., and 325 degrees for the remaining 30 minutes. Allow to cool for about an hour before cutting and serving.

 This pie just isn't the same unless it is warmed and topped off with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream! Deeeeeelicious!

Caramel Apple Muffin and Pumpkin White Choc. Chip Muffin

Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip & Caramel Apple Muffins

I will be serving these 2 muffins at our Women's Retreat this weekend, and thought I'd include the links with both of the recipes. I of course had to taste test them before I serve them to the ladies...Mm-Mm!

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Caramel-Apple-Muffins#.UGMMQBtx-5g.pinterest
I went with the suggestion from others that have tried this recipe... Instead of chopping up the caramels and adding them to the batter, I put about half or less of the batter in the cup, and then added a whole caramel and the rest of the batter to fill the cup.    

http://www.culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody.com/2012/09/04/pumpkin-white-chocolate-chip-muffins/

The women loved both of the muffins!!! (Success!)

Peach Crisp

Ingredients
7 to 8 peaches, peeled and sliced
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1/2 cup sifted all-purpose whole wheat or regular flour (I used whole wheat)
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup butter

Directions
1. Put peaches in a shallow 2-quart baking dish

2. Sprinkle with lemon juice

3. Mix flour, oats, and brown sugar.

4. Cut in butter with pastry blender until it looks crumbly

5. Spread over the peaches and bake at 325 degrees for 30 mins. or until peaches are tender (check with a butter knife)

6. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped topping.

Deep Dish Fresh Peach Pie

My son spent the summer in Georgia and returned with some delicious fresh Georgia peaches. I decided to make a couple of desserts and a peach topping for stuffed french toast. Mmmm-mmmm!


 Ingredients
3 lbs. of peaches peeled and sliced
1 cup sugar
3 Tbs. cornstarch
3 Tbs. butter
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
(makes 2 pies)

Directions
1. Make your favorite pie crust. I purchased a double pack of frozen deep dish pie crusts.
2. Peel and slice the peaches
3. Combine sugar, spices and cornstarch

4. Combine peaches and half of the sugar mixture
5. Pour peaches into pie shells

 6. Dot each pie with the butter

7. Sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture over the pies.
8. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden brown.

Allow to cool and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.